


like a geyser

by cokeslushie



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Bender Sokka AU, Bending (Avatar), Bisexual Sokka (Avatar), Canon Typical Violence, Drowning Mention, Drug Use, Gen, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Nightmares, Past Yue/Sokka (Avatar), Poetry & Prose, Post-Canon, Prophecy, Sokka (Avatar)-centric, Stoner Sokka, Violence, Water Spirit Sokka (Avatar), but only like a little bit, sokka isn’t having a great time, there’s a lot of spirit world shenanigans, this is the one where sokkas being haunted by spirits in his dreams, yeah that’s kinda where we’re at, zukka rights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-19
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25389607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cokeslushie/pseuds/cokeslushie
Summary: Sokka has been having a series of pretty weird nightmares recently. He’s not sure what they mean - all this stuff about the water and the war. He’s trying to not let it get to him.He’s not doing a very good job.
Relationships: Aang/Katara (Avatar), Sokka & Suki (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 110





	1. turn down every hand

**Author's Note:**

> this was a little something I cooked up after finishing my rewatch today!! ive always wanted to write for atla and now i finally feel like i can do it properly!! still not sure if this is more of a one shot or not, but i have a few ideas if i DO end up fleshing it out. please, let me know your thoughts!!

Sokka hadn’t been sleeping well lately. 

Honestly, he was pretty sure that none of them had. Not that he could confirm that hunch. Sokka hadn’t seen his friends for a few months now — Zuko was Fire Lord, Suki had taken to being his personal guard, Toph had an earthbending school, Aang & Katara were off.. saving the world still, probably. Some nights, like tonight, he wished more than anything to be sixteen again.

In between being a warrior and near death experiences, they had a lot of fun! The nights were warm, especially in the Western Air Temple.

He can hear it now, if he really focuses on it. He tries. (It could help his rapid breathing.) Appa snoring, Momo chittering and all of his friends humming sleepy songs around him. Most nights, they’d return to their rooms but sometimes they’d all simply fall asleep around the campfire. Sokka tried to piece together stories from his memory. Aang’s cheery laugh. Toph grumbling something with a smile on her face. The peace that overcame him felt like a wave.

He wished for that near constantly now. Peace. Not in the same way as he used to, of course, but something similar. If he could just settle down! Take a deeper breath. He was aching. Now, he sat up alone. Soaked in sweat, heart still hammering. He wished he could go back to before the nightmares started. It had started off with just weird shit, frankly—

The sea opening up and swallowing him whole. The solar eclipse followed by the new moon, switching around so quickly, it gave him whiplash. Appa taking a bite out of his arm. His Ember Island actor counterpart taking his place as the real life Ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe.

Again. Weird shit.

He tried to shake it off. Focus on anything else, really. He had plenty to focus on. Working out trade routes between the Southern Water Tribe through the Earth Kingdom and beyond proved a mighty damn feat. It was hard enough getting his people to agree to the proposition in the first place — Sokka had begun to think that tradition was just another word for being stubborn.

“Why should we trade our wares? They never seemed so interested before!” Phi had bickered. Thinking about all those town halls back then made his eye twitch. It went alright, though, eventually.

Zuko had been beaming about it when they met afterwards. It was routine for the Ambassadors to hold conferences with the Fire Lord in person and Sokka wouldn’t have it any other way. They had left the conference room to retire to a tea room. Sokka didn’t even really like tea. But he loved hanging out in that room. Many a night was spent smoking out of some ancient royal pipe they had found. It was in between coughs when Zuko had said, “It’s you, Sokka. They trust you, even if their instincts tell them to stick to another way. They trust you enough to be curious.” Zuko’s good eye looked like it was illuminated. An ember. He smiled at Sokka, shrugged his shoulders. “And we can work with that.”  
Yeah. Spirits, he really, really missed his friends.

He wondered if Zuko had nightmares, too. He wondered if they were about Sokka. Sokka definitely had nightmares involving Zuko. Not because he was scared of the guy, Spirits, no — hard to stay scared when Zuko said all kinds of sappy, dorky shit when they drank — it was more like Zuko was unwillingly cast in Sokka’s night terrors. It was Zuko, but the first one Sokka ever met, the warmonger. He would be there, cold and full of rage, staring Sokka down. There was always something different behind him. Sometimes it was a storm; lightning or snow coming down so hard that it burns. Other times it was an inferno. Sokka has only ever seen Ozai a handful of times in person, but he thinks that if Zuko hadn’t been strong enough to change when he had, he’d look a lot more like his dad now. That’s the same dread he feels in the pit of his stomach when he sees Nightmare Zuko lit up among hellfire - watching Sozin’s Comet glide ever closer. The overwhelming heat of the blood red sky threatening to crush him.

He took a deep breath. Maybe there was some sort of .. tea or something that could fix this. Suck on another frog and cure these night terrors? He’d risk it.

* * *

Sokka spent his days at his father’s side. They were sending out the first ships to secure a series of routes. Hakoda has insisted as Chief that he head the mission, seeing as it was an expansion of their culture. Naturally, as the Ambassador, Sokka was his father’s right hand. Which meant a lot of traveling. Not that Sokka minded. He was a goal oriented guy. Not to mention he was already fairly familiar with their geography. He was to venture the routes he had pitched, verify them, send word to the Earth Kingdom courts and then head back to the Fire Nation to brief Zuko. His busy days and long nights would all pay off.

Sokka couldn’t stop thinking about it. 15 more days before he’d make it back to the Palace. A big warm bed. Tea shipped in from Iroh’s shop. Dinner with Zuko. Sitting on a rooftop with Suki. It was all waiting for him- just a couple more weeks.

Sokka wasn’t worried about the mission or the politics or weird conversations with his dad. In fact, he loved it. Mostly. It was the nights he worried about.

His dreams have been getting worse.

Last night, he was back in that village with Hama. Screaming from inside a mountain. The forest curling down to cover the sky. Worst of all, his brain had decided to intensely reflect on how it felt to be controlled. _Bloodbending_. In dreams, his body is not his own. It’s a weapon, a war machine, a sword with extra unnecessary parts. He feels the ice shoot through every vein in his body. He watches his arm rise - straight and true - and he feels himself move so quickly towards his sister, his baby sister, Katara.

“Move,” he had choked out. The fear in her eyes was visible even this far away. Move, he pleads again, as he’s whipped and warped and suddenly just seconds from killing Aang. From ending the world. Move, move, _move_. Aang screaming, helpless, were all things really so doomed? Were all living things really so weak, so fragile? Could he really _kill_?

“MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!”

He had woken himself up with that. Embarrassing, really. His dad had rushed in, actually, followed by Bato. Sokka didn’t ask. He thanked his dad for being so caring and after hearing his cabin door click shut, he held his pillow over his face and screamed.

* * *

“So,” Zuko said out to the sunset. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh?” Sokka sputtered out around his tea cup. This stuff was actually pretty good. He knows that Iroh had sent a complete of some new mix he had invented. Camo-Juno-something-or-another. Zuko was making slow work of it by himself. Sokka liked it enough. 

“What’s wrong? You’ve been off. Something on your mind?” Zuko’s voice had a tilt to it, a crack almost. Like he was nervous to ask. Part of Sokka wanted to spill everything out of him, like the ocean meeting the shore. He wanted to tell Zuko all about his nightmares, how he wakes up most nights hyperventilating because he dropped Toph from that airship, or Katara with burns on her hands, or about how sometimes he couldn’t tell the difference between Suki and Azula with the makeup on. The logical side of him insisted that he keep quiet. Zuko has enough problems as the head of a huge country. He doesn’t need Sokka’s troubles floating around him too.

As if reading his mind, Zuko said, “You can tell me, you know. I.. I do know that it’s kinda hard to open up. But I will always listen.” Zuko’s voice was filled with so much patience. It surprised Sokka how safe he felt suddenly. Of course. They were friends and when you’re friends, your feelings aren’t burdens.

He let out a sigh. “I haven’t been sleeping well, I guess.” Understatement of the year. He had been dreading the sunset all day. It was only Zuko’s present company that kept him from being an anxious mess. Suki had promised that she’d meet them for dinner tonight, too, but.. it still left Sokka unsettled. Night meant sleep. Sleep meant nightmares. Nightmares meant whatever the hell they meant — and certainly _no rest_. “A lot of nightmares are kicking my ass.”

“What are they about?” Sokka pauses. What _are_ they about? War? Panic? Control?

“Well,” he starts. “Last night, I dreamt about Yue.” And, oh, she had been beautiful. Sokka had almost been convinced that her gracious presence made the scene qualify as a dream, not a nightmare. But even Yue couldn’t save him from the dark. “It was after the siege. She kept asking me a question but I couldn’t make out what she meant. Like I couldn’t process her words at all.”

“What’d it sound like?” Zuko tried. “Honestly? Waves crashing. Isn’t that weird?” Zuko nodded once and sipped his tea. _Go_ _on_.  
“I tried making my way over to her. We were, uh, on this huge plain. It was snowing, but I wasn’t cold at all. I don’t think I had shoes on. But I was running.”

Sprinting, really. The snow under his feet gave way to his movement, almost like it was pushing him forward instead of holding him back. Across the endless snowy plain, northwards, was Yue. Her feet barely skimmed the floor. Her hair, starlight amongst void, floated around her in elegant tendrils. She had always looked otherworldly to Sokka, but here she looked divine. “When I got to the edge of the plain, the snow turned to ice. And beyond that was all water. She floated there, just about 20, 25 feet from me, and I still couldn’t reach her.”

“Did she want you out on the water?” Zuko asked. Sokka shook his head, fingers wrapping around his teacup as if he could use the little thing to keep him warm.

“I don’t think it was so much of her wanting me to come than me being _forced_ to go. My feet moved on their own and suddenly I was, like, walking on water. Not hovering like her. Walking. She was still trying to talk to me and I could decipher words from here, you know. But they still didn’t make any sense.”

“Well, what did she say?”

There was no going back now. Chills set into Sokka’s skin. “I kept hearing stuff like “freedom”, “sacrifice” and “Water Tribe”. Like those aren’t _the_ heaviest kinds of words for the Ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe to hear!” He put emphasis on his title, in an attempt to lighten the mood. Zuko huffed in a half-laugh. It would have to do. “But most of her words were still blurry. If that makes any sense.” Sokka looked off in the distance as Zuko had been doing. The sun was only a sliver. It shrank away as Sokka spoke. “When I finally made my way to her, face to face, she spoke clearly for the first time. She said ‘Look out for them.’ And when I tried to ask who she was talking about, I..” Sokka could feel his hands shaking. He set the teacup down.

“My throat hurt. Like I was choking suddenly, even though I hadn’t even opened my mouth yet. When I did, a.. a waterfall, I guess, came out. Spilled all over me, and broke whatever sort of tension I had been relying on to keep me on top.” He had scrambled in his dream. The feeling of water filling his lungs, burning his eyes, making his throat useless and his mind foggy. He couldn’t stay standing for long. Every impulse in his body begged that he run, run further, away from the pain. “I took maybe one step forward and stopped. I thought I saw something in the water.” A fish, alone, swirling peacefully despite Sokka’s impending demise just a foot away. “It scared me.” The fish had stopped swimming. “But before I knew it, I could breathe again. And when I tried to get a better look at whatever was swimming around me, the ocean.. ate me. I guess? One second I was there, on top and looking down and the next, I’m submerged entirely. Instantly. Just like Aang. But I never came back up.” He trails off.

The night has fallen. His tea is cold.


	2. hear the harmony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka & Suki have a lovely dinner. Sokka reunites with his friends - but they don’t have the best news.

Sokka was pleasantly surprised - no, he was actually  _ delighted  _ about his time spent at the Palace. Being in the Fire Nation was basically like a second home nowadays. It was easy to get comfortable with some of his favorite people around. Suki was busy, of course, but when she was off duty, she made it a point to explore the land with Sokka.   


He couldn’t lie; it was gorgeous here. Ba Sing Se had made his heart sing. The Air Temples always invited a sense of warm reverence. But Sokka had grown up in ice and snow. The lush hills and vast valleys here invited him over and over again and Spirits, the  _ beach!  _ They were all new territory for him- every time _. _

Sokka was often on the beach. He had fallen in love with the tide rushing to meet his ankles. 

It would be even better here soon - Katara and Aang were coming to visit. Sokka could admit that it was still strange after all these years after the war to not be by their side. Aang assured him that they’d always be Team Avatar together. Sokka believed him. But there was definitely something to be said about traveling village to village and  _ seeing  _ their impact on the world. Sokka knew well enough that all this mattered in the grand scheme of things, sure. But he was a sucker for that good old instant gratification. 

No one knew this better than Suki. She had promised to meet him after a long day of boring meetings with the various Earth Kingdom council members. It was his reward and he reveled in it. Time with Suki was always well spent. 

And there she was. Walking towards him with a picnic basket in hand, right arm extended in a broad wave. His heart soared. There she was. He found himself running to her as gold settled across the sky. “Suki!” he called, just to hear her laugh ring out. 

“Hey, you big lug! I brought us some sandwiches!” 

“What kind?” Sokka called back. 

“Your favorite!” Suki replied simply. 

He swore to himself that he would make everyday of her life as remarkable as she made his. 

The sandwiches were good, if a bit dry. It didn’t matter. Dinner with Suki meant laughing around bites and rapid fire discussion over drinks. By the time the sun had settled into the horizon and the sky had forgone gold in exchange for violet, Sokka was well and tipsy. Suki had been following along nicely from the tilt of her voice. Sokka basked in it like anointing oil. 

“You’re dreaming if you think Momo could take Appa.” She laughed into her glass. The noise was trapped and warped but welcomed all the same. Sokka grinned, shifting in the sand. 

“He has the advantage of agility! Appa’s so big, it couldn’t possibly be fair!” 

Suki laughed aloud and Sokka sank slowly, considering every move. He loved his friends. 

His mouth moved before he could stop it. “I’ve been having weird dreams lately. Like really weird.” 

“How weird?” Suki hums. 

“I almost die in them but, like, magic stops me kind of weird.” 

“Magic? I always took you for the practical sort of guy who dreams about.. I don’t know, cliffs and math tests.” 

“I am!” Sokka argued. He waved his hand and took a sip of his drink. “Usually.” He scrunched up his nose at the taste. The liquor in the Fire Nation was almost always spiced somehow. It certainly helped him wash down the 5 fish-jerky sandwiches he had inhaled. “I mean, listen. At first, it all seemed kinda just weird but I could write it off. Stuff like Sozin’s Comet days, Katara and I being like 9 again.” 

“So they’re nightmares.” Suki said, her brow furrowed. Spirits, he was worrying her. Sokka waved his arms and shook his head. 

“No, no! Not all of them. Most of the time it’s okay. Apps bit me once in one, but then the rest of it was a sandcastle contest.” 

Suki smiled. “Sokka. You said you could die in them if magic didn’t stop you? What kind of magic? How do you..?” 

Right, right. “I drown.” He said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Every other night, I drown. No matter how the rest of the dream goes, I always end up running across these plains to the sea.” 

Sokka explained to Suki the very same dream he had told Zuko about. Suki listened carefully, intently. She did not take another sip of her drink. 

“Sokka,” she said finally. The crescent moon above lit up only a side of her face from where Sokka was. “Doesn’t this all sound very Spirit World to you?” 

Sokka blinked. Huh. 

“You know, I hadn’t really thought of that.” 

Suki smiled again, but it was less than easy. “You’re telling me that the moon spirit, your old girl Yue, is telling you directly that something’s coming. I think we need to listen a little harder.” She set a hand on his shoulder. Sokka sighed and delicately took Suki’s hand, placed it on his cheek. He leaned into it when he spoke. 

“What if I’m scared of what I hear?” 

“Lucky for you, our friends have more experience with the Spirit World than the average rag tag team. Your future brother-in-law and best friend is the Avatar. Need I remind you. There’s no reason to be scared. We have your back.” 

Aang. Aang, who sunk into the deeps and came out powerful enough to save the North. Aang, who still goes penguin sledding when they have the time. Aang, who would be here in two days or so. Aang, the Avatar, one of his best friends of all time. Yeah,  _ maybe _ the kid would know what to do. 

Sokka moved to rest his head on Suki’s shoulder. “Thank you, Suki.” 

She patted the top of his head and held him close. 

“Anytime, big guy.” 

* * *

“SOKKA! HEY! HEY, SOKKA!!” The sky called and Sokka realized it was Appa blocking out a good chunk of the sun. The sky bison swirled around the Palace grounds as Aang cheered. Sokka stood near the middle of the courtyard, donning one of the many robes he had been offered as Ambassador. They were all rather luxurious - fine silks so blue they looked black, a delicate chain around his waist that served as a belt, all adorned with a silver clasp in the shape of a wave. Sokka figured that if he had to wear something flashy to the meeting this afternoon, it might as well be the ensemble with pants. 

“ZUKO!! FIRE LORD ZUKO! WE’RE HERE!” It was hard to miss him.

Zuko came out of the main corridor as Appa landed. “Hey, Aang, old buddy. Hello, Katara.” He greeted, smiling. Peace suited him, Sokka thought. Zuko looks fairly pretty when he smiles. 

Aang slid off of Appa’s back and crashed into Zuko for a hug. “It’s so good to see you!” The two stumbled around a bit. Sokka didn’t really have time to say anything before another body rushed him. “Hey, dunderhead!” 

Sokka curled around the small form of Toph - in all her metal armor glory. Sokka remembered that the armor had been a pitch for the new guards Toph headed. The Earth King had wanted her to run a new era of law enforcement, seeing as she was a revolutionary bender, but Toph had declined. Sokka couldn’t help but be relieved. Toph was a rule breaker - that’s what he liked so much about her. She kept the armor, though. He laughed now, and pulled her up off the ground in a spin. 

“Why didn’t anyone tell me the greatest Earthbender of all time was making a special guest appearance?” He called. Toph cackled and kicked at his shins in an attempt to be let down. Sokka happily obliged for the sake of his leg’s wellbeing. 

“We wanted it to be a surprise.” That voice. Katara. She was there, then, and Sokka just opened his arms. Katara slammed into him. He was winded, sure, but he’d take a full force hug from his little sister any day. The way she held onto him without saying a word told him a lot already. She clutched onto his robes like he might slip away. Her face was buried in his shoulder. 

“Hi, Katara.” He tried. He pet her hair - it was getting pretty long - and held her there. 

“Sokka,” she said and Sokka felt relief wash over him. Hearing her voice was like finding stable ground after an eon of walking on a tightrope. It was like coming home all over again. 

She pulled away from him. Only then did he notice the tears in her eyes. “Sokka..” she gulped. 

No. Oh, no. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey gang!!! I split this chapter and the next up to make it a bit easier to take in, since I switch around a little. I hope it’s enjoyable all the same!! Please, tell me what ya think!!


	3. the one i got

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang identifies a new threat. Sokka & Zuko take a break.

The meeting had been mandatory; Sokka had known about it for weeks. He knew that there would be representatives from the four nations to discuss business and potential threats to the Harmony Restoration Movement. He hadn’t really put 2 and 2 together. There was a shake to Katara’s voice, a persistent uneasiness. It made Sokka’s heart ache.   
They were older now but nothing really changed. In his soul, they would always be waddling around and building snowmen. Forever her older brother with the boomerang, her protector. Not that Katara couldn’t hold her own. It was just Sokka’s thought that she should never have to do it alone. Aang seemed to second the idea. 

They all sat in a sort of semi-circle around the war room table. The room seemed endless, cloaked in red and black. It had been Zuko’s idea to place banners for all four nations above the mantle. His advisors had bickered about the public’s acceptance of the Air Nomads as a Nation, considering there were such an impossible few. Zuko had stood his ground, though. Sokka was pretty proud to be in Zuko’s court. The room set up for about 12 people to sit around a huge world map. Zuko on his right, Toph sat to Sokka’s left. Toph, who normally would have put her feet up on the thing, was leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. 

Aang had been saying something from the other side of Zuko. If Sokka tilted his head forward a bit, he’d be able to catch the airbender’s face. Sokka couldn’t really bring himself to tune in, though. He was pretty busy fretting over Katara and when his eyes wandered, they settled on Zuko’s worried look. His frown, the few wrinkles pulling on his skin to sell the mild distress. Sokka let himself study Zuko from his space beside him. His hands were pale, strong, and currently wringing like a rag but slowly - carefully - as if he were trying to be discreet. Zuko’s voice snapped Sokka out of his melancholy. 

“They call themselves shadowbenders?” 

Aang nodded, voice more grave than Sokka would have liked. “We think they’re a type of firebender - people who have focused their energy entirely on light. In this case, the shift and removal of it.” 

“It’s fucking weird.” Toph chimed in. “We’re actually kind of lucky they started up in the Earth Kingdom. I can actually go toe to toe with ‘em.” 

Shadowbenders. Assassins who specialize in darkness, warping the light around them and then weaponizing it. They could move entire units without alerting a single guard. Toph could still see them no matter how dark they made the room. Katara had called the projectiles she’d seen them shoot out ‘light daggers’. 

Sokka was increasingly more glad that he wasn’t a bender. It seemed like they all had so many extra problems. Aang had excitedly talked about a child he met last month who could bend glass. Sokka knew that as time went on, bending and technology would both expand. But.. shadowbending sounded horrifying to him. To wrap yourself in darkness? Sokka had had enough of darkness to last a lifetime or two. 

“What do they want?” Zuko asked simply. It was surprising how calm he sounded. Sokka knew better; he knew Zuko as plainly as he knew himself. Maybe better. An even tone didn’t mean much when everything else was giving him away . 

Aang shrugged, head hanging low. “I think that they are supremacists of some kind. Toph apprehended one of them.” 

“They trashed my whole town.” Toph said bitterly. She spit and continued. “Just said a bunch of shit about a ‘natural order’ of elements. Like how aether is first - whatever that is, then fire, air, whatever. They don’t like other benders. At all.” 

There it was again. A hierarchy.

“They especially hate water benders.” Katara said. “One of them called me something. I don’t know. Whatever it was, it was hateful.” 

“What’d they say?” Sokka found himself speaking before he even realized. His tone had been a bit too revealing, a bit too jumpy and insistent. Big brother standing up to the danger. 

“I couldn’t make it out.” Katara said patiently. 

“Fishbone.” Aang answered. “One of them called her ‘fishbone’.” 

“Like I said.” Toph waved her hand dismissively. “Fucking weird.” 

Sokka didn’t like that shit at all. “Where is the one you got?” He asked Toph, voice steely. 

“Locked up tight back home.” Toph said. “Don’t worry, he’s plenty roughed up.” Atta girl. “But I think he’s done talking.” 

“Where was he going?” Zuko and Sokka asked at once. Sokka shot him a look. Great minds think alike, right. 

“The troop he was with was stationed outside of Ba Sing Se with the intention to move up to the North Pole.” Toph said. 

Sokka understood then. “Did he say why?” 

“Not a chance.” 

This wasn’t good. The North Pole held a mixed bag of memories but it wasn’t just that. Assailants who can warp light, who specialize in deception, making a move on what they feel is an inferior element. The Northern Water Tribe is the mother Tribe, no way around it. Any blow to them would definitely affect his Southern home. They didn’t know the motive, or the means of transport. They knew that these shadow freaks hated Water, though. And Sokka could deduce that Toph would be unable to fight them in the snow. The water benders wouldn’t be able to see it coming - whatever it was. 

It took Toph punching him in the arm to alert Sokka that he had been mumbling all this aloud. 

“So, what do we do, hot shot?” Toph asked. 

“Huh?” Sokka offered intelligently. 

“What’s the plan?” She asked like it was the easiest thing in the world. “You are still our plan and idea guy, right? Or did I miss something here?” 

Right. Right, always. 

He could do this. He could figure this out. A part of him felt like he had been ready for this for a while. A challenge, a new mission. Sokka clapped his hands together. He’s got this. “Okay, team, listen up.”   
  


* * *

The plan was more of a skeleton than a full fleshed course of action. The only way to beat a sneaky little crew was to make sure they had nowhere to hide. That meant that Sokka would go with Aang, Katara and Toph tomorrow on Appa to try to get the jump on their enemy. Hopefully they’d be able to gather more intel on their travels. Sokka was actually fairly excited. Sure, it might not be so fun to be running for one’s life but this time, he felt like he had the advantage. Hunting versus hunted. He hoped that whatever plans these shadowy guys had didn’t involve any Spirit stuff. Not that he didn’t love the spirits. Just that he wasn’t sure how much good he could do to protect them. But that’s tomorrow. 

Tonight was for smoking with Zuko and trying to forget that the world was constantly and consistently falling apart at a humming-snail’s pace. 

Zuko’s room shouldn’t have been cozy but it was. It was frankly too big, a whole sea of floor space and probably the biggest bed Sokka had ever seen. He had crashed on it once or twice and could attest to its comfort. Maroon flooded the scene, gold lining and trim. Sokka could get lost in it. There were photographs, paintings, letters all hung up on Zuko’s walls. Sokka had memorized the layout eons ago. He huffed out smoke and hummed. 

“What are you thinking about, buddy?” Zuko asked. His hair was down, his elaborate Fire Lord attire discarded in favor of a red shirt that stopped around his waist and dark flowy pants. When Zuko leaned over to take the pipe from Sokka, a significant glimpse of his side was visible. Stark white against heavy black and red. Once again, Sokka was reminded that Zuko was the prettiest man he had ever met. 

“I’m thinking about how you should be coming with us.” Sokka replied honestly. 

Zuko chuckled. “I’m the Fire Lord, remember? We already kind of pushed the envelope when it comes to me adventuring with the Avatar. What would I do, anyway?” 

“You’re, like, the best firebender I know. Which is a compliment, by the way. Most firebenders still kinda suck. You could, you know..” Sokka punched the air a couple times with a ‘whooshh!’ “Ahaa! Light them up!” 

Zuko laughed and Sokka joined him. He wished, for just a moment, that his entire life had been different. Every bone in Sokka’s body knows that he and Zuko were always meant to be friends, probably even faster than they had been. “I could light them up, huh?” Zuko said. He held the pipe up to his mouth and inhaled, the bowl churning embers without even a raise of Zuko’s hand. Sokka shot up in his spot, grinning. 

“See!” He cried, arms shooting above his head. “You’re amazing!” Sokka took the pipe back. “You should be coming with. I’m serious. Need you.” Inhale. Exhale. Zuko was staring at him, like he might say something. Sokka raised his eyebrows.  _ Yeeess? _

“Have you been having weird dreams still?” 

“Eh, not really.” Sokka lied. Truthfully, he was over trying to decipher his dreams. Maybe they were just weird subconscious images, mixed with fears and confusing emotions. In fact, they definitely were. 

“I have.” Zuko said. 

Sokka turned to face him again. “Yeah? What about?” 

“Strangely enough, you.” 

For some reason, Sokka’s heart stopped and then kickstarted in his chest, sending sharp electrical currents all throughout his body. He had wondered if Zuko had dreamt of the place Sokka sees in his nightmares. Now, when faced with the possibility, he hoped not. 

“Me? What about me? Do I look good?” 

Zuko chuckled again around the pipe. “Sure, you do. They’re not as weird as yours.” 

“Thanks.” 

“But they’re still pretty strange. I keep seeing you trapped under ice.” 

“Oh.”

“But you seem fine, which is what..makes it weird. You’ll wave to me and talk through it like it’s a bedsheet and not frozen solid. You float and swim around like it’s the most natural thing in the world. I’m not even sure you can swim.” 

“Of course I can swim!” Sokka scoffed, almost offended. Name one Water Tribe native who couldn’t swim. 

“Well, not like that, then.” Zuko amended softly. 

“What do I say?” Sokka asked, hands nestling under his chin. He was done smoking; far too busy engaging with the story before him. 

Zuko shrugged. “I don’t know, it’s tough to hear.” That was a lie. Sokka could tell because Zuko couldn’t meet his eyes. This was an interesting thing to lie about. But Sokka wouldn’t push it. 

“Bet you if our dreams are in any way connected, it’s me roasting you for your ponytail.” 

“Yeah… Wait! Hey!” Zuko elbowed Sokka’s midsection and the two doubled over in laughter. Peace and smoke enveloped the night around them. Sokka fell asleep and was delighted to dream of nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT!!! time for a killer quest!!! the next chapter will be mostly prose, fair warning, but i hope youll join me in this adventure!! poor sokka , things will get weird before they get better 💙💙


	4. it’s not real enough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The journey takes off! Sokka has a moment with his beloved sister. An encounter is met.

Sokka couldn’t convince Zuko to come with. He also didn’t let Zuko catch wind of how disappointed he was. The gang parted ways after several hugs and a lot of ‘write me as soon as you can’. Sokka climbed up onto the saddle just as he’d done a million times before and Aang said the infamous ‘yip yip’. And that was all. Sokka did, however, let himself look back down at the courtyard to see Zuko wave them off. He let himself linger there, just for a moment, as if he were a ghost haunting a memory. Katara rested her hand on Sokka’s shoulder and brought him back to their mission. 

The first day back in the sky made up for all this time away. Sokka had almost forgotten how it felt to fly. The clouds below were merely mist, the blueness before them seemed like it was everlasting. Sunsets from up here were more beautiful. The sky was engulfed in warm pinks and cool oranges. Purple streams danced amongst the two until they ended in a deep violet night. The gang settled into camp. No arguments. It was all as easy as breathing. Sokka welcomed sleep like an old friend.   
  


* * *

The Comet. Zhao holding up a bag as the sky eats the earth. Every igloo in his Tribe set aflame. Flowers growing out of Toph’s hands. Zuko giving a speech with Azula puppeteering him. The day of Black Sun but the eclipse never ends. 

Sokka jammed his eyes shut. 

“You can help them more than you think.” Yue said, clear as day, right into his ear. Sokka could feel the water lapping up around his ankles, hear the rush of the waves meeting the black sand. He reached out with his right hand. Out of his peripheral, he saw a glowing, manicured, perfectly delicate hand mirror his action. Yue. The Moon Spirit. His brief first love. He knew he would have to muster up the courage to face her. “I know you’re scared. But you’re so smart, Sokka. You can figure this out. The puzzle is not as complicated as it seems.” Why could he understand her so much more clearly now? He turned to face her. There was no one standing there. Sokka’s breathing quickened, his eyes widened. Where could she have gone? 

The waves crash. He looks down. Around his feet swirl the two sacred spirits - Tui and La. Dancing eternally just as they had been for a millennia before Sokka’s horrid trip to the North Pole. Back from the dead. He bent down to reach them, to touch them. 

The tension broke. The waves crash. He is swallowed whole. The blue water turns stark red and Sokka is pretty sure that Zuko was right, he’s never swam like this before. Where there was peace, there is war, and the ocean itself rages like a warrior wronged.

As if summoned by thought alone, Zuko appears in the water. For just a second, Sokka is thankful to actually be able to see someone he knows. After a minute of studying, though, he realizes that Zuko isn’t handling the whole being underwater thing well. He’s holding his breath, thrashing his legs around. He looks frantic. Sokka swims and swims. He attempted to pull himself towards Zuko. Steady. Insistent. He tried calling out his name but all that came out were bubbles. Dammit. 

“Zuko!” He finally got out. “Z, stop, stop moving! I’m coming!” 

From here, he could see Zuko mouth something violently, like he was in a rush. ‘Need you’. Zuko slammed his hands over his mouth. The water around Sokka turned to honey, thick and trapping. He was forced to just watch. Sokka wasn’t new to feeling helpless. This time it was just overwhelming. 

From his trap, he could see objects crash into the water. It was as if a ship had wrecked right over him and all its patrons had abandoned it. Taking their chances with the depths below. The water was still dense, still blood red. It seemed to leap up in mighty waves and pull down whatever unfortunate things it could get a hold of. Sokka was horrified at the idea of looking around. He had to. He knew he had to. He saw Toph first, sinking lower and lower. Her arms extended up and out as if she was hoping to be caught in her free fall. Then Suki, who held her throat as if it burned. Aang, knocked out cold, tattoos glowing only faintly among all the red. Katara was closest to him and she descended all the same. She was the only one who seemed able to see him. Her movements were weak, her arms uselessly swaying with the current. Sokka screamed into the amber around him. He kicked at it, threw punches, anything and everything. His strength seemed to fail him. 

“Look out for them. You can protect them. You can help them more than you think.” Yue said, clear as day. Sokka turned, heaving chest, bloodshot eyes, and saw Zuko trapped with him. It wasn’t the same Zuko who had been panicking just moments ago; this one was strong, resolute. So sure. Sokka locked their gaze. He nodded. Zuko grabbed his hands and pulled him out. 

Sokka shot up from under his blanket. His tent was carefully pulled open. Katara was hovering over him, lip pouty and brows knitted together. Her most iconic ‘worried mom’ look. 

“Sokka?” She asked after him tenderly. She rested her hand on his cheek, moving to check his forehead as if he had a fever. “Are you okay?” 

Sokka nodded. The sky outside was a painting of gold and blush. Sunrise. “Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Did I wake you?” 

Katara shook her head. Her eyes were so, so blue. “I couldn’t sleep.” Sokka met her hand to hold it. Instinctively, Katara moved to lay side by side with him. They had slept like this for years; heads together, bodies splayed out in different directions. Sokka to the South, Katara to the North. 

“Do you wanna talk about it? Your dream?” 

Right. “Did you hear anything?” 

“I watched for a second. You kick around a lot when you’re having a nightmare.” She answered. “You said something about Zuko.” 

Sokka could feel the heat rush to his face. “Yeah? Guess he was there.” If Sokka closed his eyes, he could still feel the tight grip Zuko had on his wrists, the pull, the prison break. He let out a shaky breath. Okay. It was time to do this. 

Sokka finished explaining his series of dreams to Katara just as the sun heightened over the clouds. Daybreak. She had been quiet. She had always been the better listener of the two. 

“Sokka, I think these are visions.” Katara finally said. 

Sokka groaned. “You know, I was really hoping you wouldn’t say something like that.” 

“You should tell Aang.” 

“I’ve honestly told way more people already than I’d like.” Sokka knew she was right. But he really, really, didn’t want to dwell more on this whole thing. “What do you think it means, though?” He tried. 

“I think that the Spirits are trying to tell you that what we’re about to do is more important than most of the stuff we’ve done in a long time.” 

Sokka gulped. “Like,” his throat felt dry. “Ending the war kind of important?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe.” 

They sat in silence. 

“What do you think it means?” Katara asked. 

“What part?” Sokka retorted. 

“Hmm. Why do you think Zuko was able to pull you out?” The ‘and no one else was’ was left unsaid but Sokka heard it all the same. That was easy, though. Sokka spoke honestly. 

“I don’t think there’s anyone else like him. Even the Spirits have to know that.”   
  


* * *

They traveled through a few villages, stocking up on supplies and trading fast stories in the market. Sokka had picked up a new whalebone knife. Aang had a new shirt made of a floaty thin yellow material. Katara was kind enough not to mention it when Sokka bought a small gold dagger for Zuko. Someone selling bracelets at a booth mentioned that she had heard what sounded to her like footsteps around her house at night. It wasn’t really a lead, but Sokka figured it was worth keeping in mind. They continued their way North. It would be about a week before there was another bad dream. But they always came. 

Darkness. 

Palpable darkness, shifting and warping around him. 

He could reach out and grab it if he wanted to. Sokka couldn’t see his own hands in front of him, but he didn’t feel suffocated or trapped. It was as if he were hiding. Eavesdropping. 

Two voices were arguing on either side of him. One he recognized to be Zuko’s - it was easy enough. Sokka would recognize even the faintest sliver of Zuko’s person. His tone, the way his feet hit the ground when he walks, the sound of his breathing. The other was not recognizable, not familiar at all. 

Harsh, demanding, stubborn. An older man. He talked as if he were smiling the whole time. “Think about it. Fire is lord; who knows that better than you, hm? We are unmatched in power. To give a voice to the masses is to participate in their weakness, to condone it. We, as a nation, have never condoned the weak. We crush it. Turn it to dust..and ash. It won’t matter soon. The world was born from ash and it should return to ash.” 

“What you’re saying doesn’t make any sense!” Zuko cut through. “This imaginary hierarchy you’ve created is only divisive. What’s the point?” 

“The point?” The voice was steely, charged with an emotion Sokka couldn’t quite place. “Did you know that the first benders were firebenders? The lion turtles gifted us control over the light so we may grow with it, like the phoenix. Energy, aether and spirit are our parents. But Fire is the home. Nothing else matters. Everything we’ve built since then is distraction. You will see what we’ve done and think it’s supremacy. You won’t be entirely wrong, but that’s not all it is.” 

“What, then?!” Zuko cried, and Sokka flinched at the tone. He hadn’t heard Zuko this angry in a few years it seemed. 

“It’s about returning to the before. Before bending, before us, before the spirits, before the ash, even. It’s about going back far enough to where the only things that matter are light and dark.” 

Sokka felt his hands trembling. 

“What are you saying?! WHY would we do that?” Zuko talked as though he were rushing towards the other voice. Sokka begged whoever would listen to give him sight. 

“The only thing the Spirits have given us was hopelessness. Bending alone causes a rift between people. We need to return the energy - give it all back to the void.” 

“WHEN DOES IT END, THEN?!”

Sokka could see, suddenly, dangerously. Everything was so bright, so blinding. The face before him was not Zuko’s. It had to be the other man. The shadow bender. “When we have nothing left, nothing but light and dark like you want so desperately, what will there be?” Zuko’s breathing was ragged. The man held his hands up to the middle of his chest and Sokka realized that the light was emitting from him. 

“It doesn’t end. When we rid the world of all excess, when we return to the aether, there will be _nothing._ No pain, no hysteria, no sorrow. Nothing at all. Endless and perfect.” The man grinned and Sokka’s blood ran cold. “Isn’t that beautiful?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> titles are all from mitskis geyser! stream be the cowboy and leave a comment if it made you lose it like i did! how do we feel abt the shadowbender?? his name is alto, we’ll meet him next time!


	5. hear it call to me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka has a talk with Toph. Aang offers some advice, Avatar-style. The gaang makes it to Northern Water Tribe. Things get hairy.

Sokka hadn’t been doing especially well since the dream about the shadowbender. Not that he was feeling awesome before. Aang had tried to counsel him, and Sokka halfway believed it. “It’s all good!” Aang had said, holding both of Sokka’s shoulders as if he could shake sense into him. “Sokka, this just means that when we encounter him, we’ll know it’s him before he knows it’s us! We have the element of surprise.” Aang’s grin could usually do a decent job at convincing Sokka that anything was possible.

But they barely knew the shadowbenders plan. Things have been getting messier. Villages ransacked in the middle of the night. People going missing in broad daylight. Murmurs in the streets over aether and criminals. It made Sokka bitter, to be honest. He hated not knowing, especially about something so dangerous. Last he heard, a 13 year old girl had gone missing. Snatched right from her mom in the market on its busiest day. They were Water Tribe. Sokka could be sick. Katara wasn’t so hot either. She was irritable, moody. Sokka could empathize, to say the least. Everything they knew about shadows pointed to hurting the North Pole. Aang and Toph had agreed that the assassin's course of action was most likely a coup. Offing the Chieftain and his family and anyone who gets in their way, effectively crippling the Water Tribe as a whole. Now that the two Tribes were more tied than they had been since the South split decades ago; If anyone wanted to hurt them as a unit, now was the time to do it. Thinking about his part in all this made Sokka’s skin crawl. 

Zuko would have told him to relax. That it wasn’t his fault. Zuko would make Sokka smoke a little and then kick his ass at Pai Sho. Sokka shouldn’t miss the man this much but he did. Aang and Katara had gone into the nearest town for more food. Toph was off on shelter duty. Appa and Momo were taking a nap together. Sokka was quietly losing his mind as he tried to plot out a schedule for their next week. 

“Hey, Captain B.” Toph said, pulling Sokka out of his mind. Captain Boomerang? That was nice to hear, actually. It’s been a long time. 

Sokka smiled, even though Toph couldn’t see it. She could probably tell. “Something on your mind, Toph?” 

“Seems like I should be the one asking you that. I can tell you’re sitting there worrying. I can smell it on you.” 

Toph kicked at the ground and a chair jutted out to Sokka’s right. Toph plopped down and the earth rose to meet her feet as she kicked them up. Huh. Maybe being a bender is worth it after all. “‘S’wrong?” 

Sokka sighed and set down the map he was fretting over. “Just.. everything. I feel like I’m 16 again and trying desperately to figure out if firebenders have some sort of cosmic weakness to exploit. But there’s no eclipse coming soon enough this time. It just feels like we still don’t know enough.” 

“I thought that with your spooky dreams and psychic visions, we’d have a leg up on ‘em.” 

Sokka looked at her. Toph sighed. “That was supposed to be a joke. Look, you’re thinking too hard about this. Name one time we didn’t just go out and kick ass.” 

“Uh, actually, Toph, I can name quite a few times we got our butts handed to us on a silver platter over the years.” 

“You know what I mean.” She punched his shoulder. It would’ve hurt if Sokka hadn’t been expecting it. “We got this. We’ll be at the North Pole  _ tomorrow.  _ We don’t even need that schedule thing you’re doodling on. We’ll get there, tell the Chieftain what’s what - it they haven’t heard already - and square up.” She grinned. “We’re ready. As always.” 

Now that was a little easier to believe. After all this time, Toph was as confident as ever. It sparked something in Sokka. Hope. He nodded a few times, reaching out to pat Toph’s shoulder. 

“You’re amazing.” He said simply. 

“I know, Cap. Back at you.” They sat together for a moment longer, the map forgotten and the clouds rolling by. “Sokka.” 

“Hm?” 

“What’s up with you and Zuko?” 

Sokka had been hit with a lot of things in his lifetime. He’d been kicked, shoved, sliced at, thrown, dropped - nothing had winded him like that question slipping out of Toph’s mouth. His instinct was to promptly deny it. But something bit at the back of his tongue. 

“What do you mean?” He settled. 

Toph groaned, rolling her head back. “I know you’re kind of dumb, but there’s no way you’re that dumb. You think because I’m blind I can’t see the googly eyes? You’re as bad as Twinkletoes with that.” 

Sokka scoffed. There was no one who was as bad off as Aang. Not that Sokka particularly liked thinking about how the little monk had been head over heels for his baby sister since the guy was 12, but - come on. Sokka had borne witness to many yearning looks and goofy grins. He really, truly, hoped he didn’t look that stupid. 

Wait.

“Nothing’s...up. Why would anything be up?” Sokka rattled off. He didn’t know where to look. He settled on his hands. Pushed his fingertips together. Maybe this was a dream, too. 

“Look, I don’t wanna step on any toes. But I think you should just tell him. Whatever it is you’re thinking, he should know.” 

Sokka wrung his hands together. Suki had said the same thing months ago over wine. Sokka had written it off as them being tipsy and silly, their tongues forgoing all restriction. They had always been great at talking - Suki was probably the only other person who could always keep up with Sokka’s mouth. Ever since their..breakup? Dissolvement? The end of their romance and the beautiful blossoming of their never ending friendship? They’d gotten better at talking about other potential relationships. They both agreed that the sous chef in the Palace was  _ adorable _ . Sokka was rather supportive of Suki’s crush on Ty Lee, although he teased a bit. Suki had held Sokka’s hand, looked him in the eyes and said, “You need to tell him.” Sokka had been too giggly to ask for clarification. He didn’t need it. The dreams spoke for themselves. The persistent ache in his chest knew. 

Sokka opened his mouth to confess. 

“They had MOON PEACHES and OX KEBABS at the MARKET today!!” Aang called. Katara laughed and said something about needing help setting up for dinner. Sokka buried his face in his hands and tried not to let out a scream.   
  


* * *

Toph didn’t ask again afterwards. Sokka could tell she was unsatisfied though. Sokka decided that he would take up Katara (and by extension, Suki) on the whole Talk-To-Aang idea. It was after dinner, with the campfire raging in front of them. It was kind of weird watching Aang slip into a meditative pose like he tended to after a good meal. The guy had gorged himself on Moon Peaches - it turns out the kebabs were a special gift for Toph but Sokka got plenty of his share - and now sat with a warm smile. 

“How can I help you, buddy?” Aang asked, his expression easy. 

Peace flooded over Sokka and when he sighed it was out of relief, not anxiety or frustration. 

“I’m sure Katara told you all about my weird magic visions.” 

“Not her words, but yeah, she mentioned it! A lot of the Spirit Oasis, which could just be because that’s where we’re headed and we didn’t really get to see the healing done afterwards. The wounds could still be fresh in your mind.” 

When Sokka closed his eyes, he saw a scrawny 12 year old with a grin that seemed almost too big for his face. When he opened them, he saw calm grey eyes and a knowing smile, all settled on features that Aang had grown into over the years. He had let his hair grow again. He shaved it on different occasions, Sokka was pretty sure. The wisdom from all of Aang’s past lives seemed to fit onto him snugly now. He suited the Avatar Spirit. But Sokka notes that Aang was also more of his own person than ever. “I know that your visions are scary.” Aang continues. “The Spirits aren’t really kind to the faint of heart. But you’re strong.” “Yeah?” Sokka had heard that his whole life. It was easy to believe. Hard to weather the tests but Sokka knew that he was a warrior. He had crafted himself that way. “I’d sure hope so. All those push-ups I do? C’mon.” 

“Exactly! Those  _ have _ gotta pay off. It’d be a shame to have all that swordsmanship training go to waste. And we can’t forget that you’re a  _ legend _ with a boomerang.” Aang offered. Sokka laughed. 

“I almost feel like nowadays it’s the boomerang coming back that does all the work.” Aang chuckled and closed his eyes again. Sokka used his kebab stick to poke at the firewood. 

“When the siege happened, I merged with the Ocean Spirit, La. Do you remember?” 

“How could I forget?” That was the first real terror they had all faced together. The combination of Prince Zuko, Admiral Zhao, Princess Yue and the turbulent North in general had left its permanent mark in Sokka’s mind. (There was a lot of pain there.) Aang had sunken into the Oasis, as dark as night, and risen in a huge tide. All water and light. Sokka had never been so convinced of magic as he had been then, of the energy everyones always talking about. He felt like he finally got what they were fighting for. “That’s when it all started getting more serious. More real.” Aang nodded. 

“I started to accept my role as the Avatar. It was a  _ long  _ journey but.. everything pointed to my destiny as a peacekeeper. All my dreams, all my meditations, anything I manifested? All of it was to aid me to my own realization.” Aang’s eyes were open and Sokka was reminded that the guy really was over 100 years old. “I think that’s what’s happening for you right now. Everything you’re seeing is pointing you to your destiny. It might not be clear right now, but I know that you’ll know what to do when the time comes.” Aang grinned and it filled his face, all sunshine among darkness. “I’ve always thought you were the smartest guy I know! Don’t stress about figuring it out too much. But, if you want, we could try something!” 

“What kind of something?” Sokka stood up a little straighter, despite something in the back of his mind ticking.  _ This might not work. Spirit shit is weird. Don’t get your hopes up.  _

Aang stood up, dusted off his pants. He grinned and extended an arm as he made his way closer to Sokka. “You trust me?” 

Sokka scoffed and took his friend's hand without a second thought. “What kinda question is that?” 

Aang had stationed them in a clearing next to an impressive cliff. “We’re just gonna start with meditation and breathing, but together. My hope is that with a little time, maybe I can help you get a sense of how I—“

“Astral project? Commune with the Spirits? So cool energybending?” Sokka interjected. He was mostly joking. (His nerves were getting to him. Just a little.) Aang smiled, as easy as ever. “Kind of, yeah! Maybe not all of that. But maybe we can clear your mind enough for you to be a sort of conduit for whatever messages the Spirits have for you.”

“I don’t really love the sound of that.”  _ Conduit _ meant  _ responsibility _ . Not that Sokka didn’t love his somewhat complicated life, but he was already pretty damn busy. 

“Hey, the worst thing that can happen is that it doesn’t work.” Sokka was pretty sure that wasn’t true. Aang shrugged and sat down beside Sokka. “Just.. close your eyes.” Sokka obeyed and attempted to sit like he’d seen Aang do so many times. He wasn’t entirely sure what to do with his hands so he peeked at Aang’s. Right, okay. 

“Eyes closed.” He confirmed. 

“Now breathe. In.” 

And out. 

“In…”

Out. The cool wind carried the scent of salt across the plain. Sokka was reminded of home. Sokka almost swore he felt like he was floating. No, not floating. Swimming leisurely. He could feel the water. Then, as if a switch had come on, he was back in his dreams - the dark plains and the black sand and the endless ocean before him. Instead of Yue’s voice, he heard Aang’s. 

“This is it, huh? You okay?” Aang asked.

“Uh huh.” Sokka was pleasantly surprised at how natural it felt to have Aang here. Normally, he’d be a shaking, anxious,  _ drowning _ mess. But here with the Avatar? It was almost calm. Sokka said this aloud after a little deliberation. 

“I’m not gonna let you drown, buddy.” 

“Appreciate it.” 

“Do you wanna try swimming?” 

“No.” Sokka replied, maybe a little too fast. Aang nodded, as if he’d expected that. 

“No worries. Let’s walk.” 

Nothing much of note happened. Sokka, however, felt more free than he had since he stepped on foot to his father’s ship months ago. He felt the burden of this vague knowledge lifted off his shoulders. Consequently, he ended up spilling his guts. 

“I’m scared. I’m always scared, even still. I still get chills every time I hear Yue’s voice. And I know, I know I didn’t, like, fail her. I know it was  _ her _ choice,  _ her _ sacrifice. I just still sometimes wish I could have prevented it somehow.” 

“She was incredibly brave. And now?” Aang gestured up to the sky. The few wispy clouds that were visible curved around the full moon as if they were a silver cloak. “Now, she’s incredibly powerful.” 

As if on cue, the tide rose high and rushed forward. Sokka didn’t even flinch. 

“I think she sees that same sort of bravery in you. And I get it, believe me.” Ah, Sokka knew that tone. Aang was about to get gushy on him. 

“The warrior thing?”

“Sure, that, but.. Sokka, you wanna know who I always,  _ always  _ think about when I think about the Fire Nation?” 

That was a weird question. Definitely not where Sokka thought the conversation was headed. “Who?” 

“Zuko’s Uncle Iroh. He’s powerful but wise, and full of life. They call him a dragon, and as a guy who’s met dragons, I’d have to agree. He’s learned so many hard lessons and instead of lashing out, he meets everyone with compassion.”

Sokka easily agreed. He had spent many a sleepless night in Iroh’s company. “He’s amazing. I’m pretty sure he’s part of the reason that Zuko is the way he is. It’s cool, you know.” 

Aang nodded once or twice. He had smiled when Sokka said Zuko’s name, but Sokka decided he really didn’t want to deal with that. “And you wanna know who I think of when I think of the Water Tribe?” Aang asked. 

“Katara.” Sokka answered for him. It was easy to see. Katara was the last Waterbender in the Southern Tribe and despite her lack of training, she had taken it on herself to teach Aang everything she knew. Now, Katara was one of - if not,  _ the  _ greatest Waterbender of their age. Sokka ran this by Aang, who said nothing. Just smiled at him with a goofy look. “Well.. I mean, right?” Sokka finished uneasily. 

Aang shook his head. “I was going to say you.” The tide rose up once more. Sokka felt stuck in place. “It’s you, Sokka. Give yourself more credit. I remember watching you rush a Fire Nation ship by yourself, decked in war paint at 16. Relentless. You’re compassionate and clever. I know being the idea guy is harder than it looks. And even when things go wrong, you’re willing to improvise. If anyone can go with the flow, it’s you.” Sokka knew his face was hot, even though he was sure he was out of his body. “You’re not afraid to fight for what’s right. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s what drives you forward.” Aang leaned down to stick his hands in the sand. Sokka watched him sketch out the symbols of the Four Nations somewhat lazily. “You’re not a Bender. But you never needed to be. You’re powerful because your heart is full of love for your people. You hold up both Tribes.  _ You’re  _ amazing.”

Sokka knelt down into the sand and hugged Aang so tightly he thought the kid might snap. 

“Thank you,” he sighed. “Thank you, thank you.” 

Aang laughed. He wrapped his arms - had he always been this strong? “Though,” Aang said. “I would love to see you summon like an ice fortress or something sometime!” Sokka found himself laughing too.

“No promises, buddy.” 

The dream ceased to be. 

* * *

That night, Sokka didn’t dream at all. At least, he didn’t think he had. They packed up on Appa and made their way further North. Sokka knew they’d make it in just a few hours. Katara had already been discussing with Toph some tactics they could use together to take down any assailants. Sokka took it upon himself to take a nap. He figured that if sleep had been so kind recently, he might as well catch up. Just a rest of the eyes. 

Sokka didn’t dream this time, either. He heard a voice, though. Someone was calling him. “Sokka,” the voice insisted. It was distant but familiar. “Sokka, hold on. I need you to hold on.” If Sokka hadn’t known any better, he would have mistaken the mystic voice for Zuko’s. But that made even less sense than it belonging to a Spirit. “Sokka, come back to me. Safe. Please.” Wait.

Maybe that really was Zuko. 

What was he so upset about? Sokka was fine. He thought he was fine, anyway. Was he not fine? “Agni, keep him safe.” It  _ was _ Zuko. Sokka wished he could respond. Let him know that it was all okay. Sokka would hold on just fine. 

“Sokka!” He opened his eyes. That time wasn’t Zuko. That was Katara. And she sounded scared. Instinctively, Sokka rose and reached for his knife. He looked around, still a bit groggy. Appa was growling. “Sokka, here!!” Katara was waving him over to the front of the saddle. The sun was setting, the sky dashed with blood red. It was then, with one hand gripping the railing of the saddle and the other tightly on his whalebone handle, that Sokka understood the hysteria in Katara’s voice. The horizon before them stationed the Northern Water Tribe. Huge gates, the Palace, the array of buildings. 

It was all on fire. 

“We’re too late.” He mumbled. He was in disbelief. All of this had led up to what? What was it all for, if they failed so early on? 

A wall of water rose from the middle of the town, high above all of the buildings, and crashed violently down. Sparks of light burst through it, and then flickered out. 

“There’s still Waterbenders. They’re still down there!” Katara said, incredulous. 

“And it sounds like they’re almost even.” Toph said. 

There’s still a fight. Still a chance. Sokka left his knife be in favor of his sword. Sokka leaned behind Aang and said, “Rush the gate. No time to knock.” 

Aang nodded, his grip on the reins fairly tight. Below them, Sokka could tell that the waves were churning. Violent and sure. There was a brewing storm. Sokka was going to try to be ready for it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOOH this was a longer one!! expect the next chapter to be a bit more action-based! I’m trying my hand at writing fight scenes, I hope it goes over well!! much love , yall!!!


	6. when it’s harming me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The attack comes to a head. Katara encounters Alto, the man behind the attacks. Sokka has a sort of epiphany.

Sokka thought he’d be used to seeing soot fall from the sky, but he really wasn’t. Black snow always left a sour taste in his mouth and a cruel sting in his heart. They had split up; Katara was to search for the royal family, Aang and Appa on damage control and Sokka and Toph were sent to  _ do  _ damage. They’d all join back up once the fires were out and the family safe. Sokka was glad he hadn’t entirely zoned out when Toph and Katara had gone over tactics. Toph can't bend ice (yet? Does ice count as earth a little?) but she can see the shadowbenders as long as she has stable footing. Snow was a bit harder, so Sokka kept to the main roads with her. Not to toot his own horn or anything, but Sokka was batting away the suckers like flies. He was thankful, suddenly, for his rather intense and unorthodox swordsmanship training. 

“Left, left! He’s alone!” Toph called from behind Sokka. Sokka didn’t have time to turn, but had enough awareness to slice at the assassin beside him, giving him a good kick off the bridge for good measure. He could feel someone’s breath, someone close, so he elbowed the nearest body to earn distance. Picked up the guy once he saw him and tossed him through the nearest door. “Not gonna lie, fighting blind is  _ super  _ hard.” Sokka said, hoping he was quiet enough not to alert many more benders. Toph shrugged. 

“You get used to it.” 

Sokka gave her a half smile. He then ducked, barely missing another light dagger. He took the momentum his movement had given him to flip over, reach back, and throw his boomerang. Sokka watched it take out three shadowbenders, one by one. 

“Hey! Pretty good!” Toph said, beaming. 

Sokka mumbled something about boomerangs doing maybe 50-50 when it comes to the work. He took Toph’s hand and ran further. Some part of him knew that he had to get to the Spirit Oasis. He dreaded to know which part.   
  


* * *

Katara had to almost drag Arnook away. The chieftain and his wife were adamant about staying - they had stayed for the Siege, they would stay for this. Katara didn’t have time to explain that the two instances were different. They  _ saw  _ Zhao. They could  _ not  _ see whoever was in charge here. Whoever the man Sokka had that nightmare about really was. 

Arnook knew a passageway from the Royal Palace towards the Northernmost sector of the Pole. There, a small dock held a series of escape ships. With the damage already done to the Tribe, Katara knew it was best to retreat and regroup. Sokka had been right. They didn’t know enough about their enemy and now they were paying the price. 

“Through here!” Arnook gestured. Katara had one hand near her pouch in case anyone tried to get the jump on them. Her heart knew that even in the midst of danger, she was safe. Aang, Sokka and Toph were here. They could do this. 

“Where does this lead?” One of the handmaidens asked, holding onto the hand of Arnook’s wife for dear life. 

“There’s a small beach, just north of this tunnel. It’s said that that is where the spirits landed when they first touched solid earth. Their power melted away the ice, burned all ground until it was sand.” Arnook said, calmly, quietly. They shuffled along in their line. It had been a while since Katara had seen sand, truthfully. A part of her wished that things were different - that they were all visiting under kinder circumstances. She silently thanked the Spirits that Pakku and Gran-Gran were home in the South. One less thing to worry about. 

Katara sensed the ocean before she saw it. 

The water washed over the little bay, adorning it with ice chips and miscellaneous rocks. The sand itself was dark; old rocks chipped away at for eons. She did feel a bit more at ease next to a body of water. 

The ease didn’t last long. 

As soon as Arnook stepped forward to the bay, he fell. Katara thought momentarily that he must have tripped. They weren’t that lucky. Before she could even think, the darkness around them shifted to reveal a trio of shadows. All clad in their dark armor, revealing nothing, not even the glimpse of an eye. Behind them, closer to the docks themselves, stood a taller figure. The entity lifted his right arm and the boat nearest to him burst into flame. 

“No!” Katara heard behind her. She didn’t have time to plan. She willed the water around the dock to rise, rise, and swung it closer to her person. She effectively knocked over at least two of the shadows, but the tallest figure evaded her. 

“You must be Master Katara.” A voice said. Much too close for comfort. 

Katara ducked, swung low, and a sturdy shard of solid ice pierced the empty space behind her. She was aware of Arnook and the handmaiden on the ground. The wife shook her husband’s still body, sobbing into the night. Katara couldn’t afford to focus on that, though. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m impressed, honestly. I didn’t think you waterbenders stood much of a chance. It’s always a pleasant surprise to meet a decent match.”

Katara shot off ice shards in the direction of the voice. But it seemed to change too much to focus on as a target. The lacking light of the waning moon didn’t bode well. It seemed that there was nothing here, save for the sand under her feet, the tide nearby, and the voice of danger surrounding her. 

“What do you want?” She asked, icy. She figured that she could stall for time this way. Katara was familiar with the power hungry men who talked too much for their own good. 

“That’s a little rude. You haven’t even asked my name.” The voice mocked hurt. Katara stilled her hand. The handmaid's crying had stopped. She couldn’t see anything in front of her. Katara closed her eyes and begged silently for any semblance of the awareness Toph had. 

“Okay. Who are you?” 

Light. Sudden, sharp and blinding. All Katara could perceive was a face among all the white. The figure revealed itself to be a man, older, a scar across his forehead and hair so light, it seemed to blend in with the environment now. He grinned. “I’m Alto.” 

It took all of Katara’s strength not to scream. She was stronger than that and this  _ Alto _ was going to understand that one way or another. She leveled her voice and said, “I’ll ask again. What do you want?” 

The fact that Katara hadn’t spooked easy had obviously thrown Alto off. Katara watched the man’s movements like a tigershark. Waiting to strike. 

“You’re expecting me to say something like world domination.” Alto said plainly. 

Katara rolled her eyes. “Isn’t that it?” 

“No.” Alto stepped back a few paces. “That’s where Ozai went wrong, you see. Fire Lord Azulon was on the right track. Divide and conquer. Cross the threshold wherever possible and  _ crush  _ what remains. Ozai tried to take on too much at once. We, on the other hand, relish in the idea of burning away at the world slowly but surely. Starting where the links are weakest.” 

“And the Water Tribe is weakest?”

“Isn’t it? Your people split up decades ago. They couldn’t agree on basic ways of living. The element water in and of itself is … flippant. Unreliable. Your house would sooner flood, ice would come down on your village, the waves would drown you in an instant without regret.” Katara noticed that Alto carried a sort of messenger bag. It thrashed around his side as if something was trying to get out. Katara had to write it off as another distraction.  _ Focus.  _

“That’s true of every element.” Katara had to bite her tongue; she couldn’t afford to sound dismissive. 

Alto shrugged. Katara realized he was an even 25 paces away. She had seen this sort of position before - during Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai. “Houses burn down all the time, avalanches bury children, tornadoes destroy whole cities. What’s your point?”

Alto’s smile was humorless, his expression one of resignation. “You’re right. That’s why it’s about getting rid of  _ everything.  _ We start small and work our way up to oblivion. It’s almost unfortunate that you’re first. You won’t live to see the glory of the end.” Alto stanced himself, a common firebender move. Katara could see, although the area was dim. But it was enough. “It’s going to be so gorgeous. A world without wasted energy. I humbly await. Until then—” 

Katara lashed out first.   
  


* * *

Sokka’s instincts carried him past the Spirit Oasis, past the Royal Palace. They didn’t check either in detail. (Partially because Sokka didn’t trust himself around the Oasis. Aang might have been right when he mentioned fresh wounds.) It was as if he had walked this trek a million times before. Aang had picked up Toph at the Oasis - she felt better in the sky than on unsolid ground. The two had moved on to the center of the Pole to round up the surviving citizens. Sokka was sent to meet up with Katara and the royals, make sure they had safely departed by whatever means necessary, then get  _ out.  _ Sokka knew that because the shadowbenders had stormed the front gates, any exit would have to be made undercover. Spirits, he hoped that they were safe. 

It didn’t help to pretend that Sokka’s heart wasn’t racing, that anxiety didn’t have an iron grip on him. So he didn’t. He sprinted across snow, going door to door, calling for his sister. It was haunting how familiar all this was while also being an efficient maze. 

He was met with a tunnel, a burrow through the ice. He spent all of 15 seconds kicking his own ass for  _ seriously  _ checking  _ caves  _ now, but he was out of places to check. Sokka shuffled his way past the uncomfortable and pressing entrance to make his way to a standing space. 

He let himself release a breath he had been holding. His chest felt tight. Something was wrong. The scream he heard from the other end of the tunnel seemed to agree. Sokka stumbled over himself for a second. That was Katara. Every fiber in his being knew that. That was  _ Katara,  _ there, at the end and Sokka was sprinting before he knew it. 

He didn’t really expect to see sand here, but a part of him kind of did. The black sand, the endless dark water and the moon above. This was the dream. This was the vision. 

Someone was laughing, probably to themselves, in the distance. Sokka surveyed the area. The royal family lay stunned among the snow. Katara was on her knees, trembling, breathing loud. Towards the edge of the bay stood a man. 

The guy from his dream.  _ Isn’t that beautiful?  _

Sokka stopped in his tracks. 

“Ah, hello. You’re just in time!” The man spoke as though he were smiling, but Sokka felt like his knees were going to give out from under him. 

“Katara,” he said. No use trying to keep quiet. “Can you stand?” This guy wasn’t going to get the best of either of them. Sokka hadn’t seen Katara defeated in an incredibly long time. He watched her shake her head. That was a bit more frightening. Sokka moved to reach for his boomerang. 

The shadowbender was too far for any sword combat, but Sokka could definitely get him from here. The man was holding a bag and wading into the water. The scarce moonlight reflected off his armor in ways that hurt Sokka’s eyes. “I was hoping you’d make it. I think I dreamt about you.” That made Sokka’s stomach churn. 

He threw his boomerang far, hoping the distance would reinforce the hit. The man didn’t seem bothered. Sokka watched the bag move. The man shook the bag with vigor and whatever was in it flopped out unceremoniously, crashing into the water. Sokka’s heart stopped. La, the Ocean Spirit, was now out of the Oasis and struggling every second to swim away. Sokka found himself running towards the man. 

The sea erupted. Waves crashed. All the black Sokka saw before was now red and it was  _ violent.  _ It churned and beat; Sokka had no clue how that guy was standing in all of this. It wasn’t for very long. Boomerang came back with a vengeance, hitting the bender smack in the back of the head. Normally that would get a laugh out of Sokka. He was too focused on the dying Spirit in front of him. It was too much like last time for comfort. Before Sokka could stop himself, he was wading through the water. 

“Sokka! Careful!” Katara called after him. The man turned around at the sound of this and Sokka took the opportunity to grab his boomerang and pummel the man as hard as possible. The storm around them made it hard to see but a Sokka was satisfied by the sound of a body colliding with the water. Sokka knew that wasn’t enough. He knew that the shadowbender was too powerful, too stubborn, to go down so easily. The man wouldn’t stop until his freaky goal was met. Sokka instead turned his attention, although scattered, to La. The spirit was dying. Sokka knew that much. He reached down to touch it, to help it out, to get it out of this mess. 

La stopped swimming. The storm raged. All noise seemed to be blocked out by the overwhelming crimson. And then - just as Sokka knew it would - the sea opened up and swallowed him whole. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HEYY!!! we’re here!! the next chapter will be the chapter ive been most excited to write since i started this!! hope you guys are enjoying this so far 💙💙 hmu on twt: mrkaijublue to talk abt zukka! i love y’all !!


	7. feel it bubbling from below

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka meets his destiny.

The feeling of suspension. Followed by weightlessness. Darkness. Light. 

He let himself feel it all, every sensation, every burst, every burn. The panic had subsided so easily, as a molten sword was dipped in cool water to briefly know peace. Sokka’s eyes were open. His throat didn’t burn. His arms worked with purpose to keep himself afloat. 

La was ahead of him, but just barely. The spirit was lucky enough to be in the one spot of moonlight as far as the eye could see. La swam, still uneasy, but it really didn’t seem like they were where they were before. 

_ We could try something if you wanted.  _ Aang said in Sokka’s ear. Clear as day. It ringed through Sokka’s skull, out in ripples. 

If Sokka focused enough he could hear the shadowbender wade in the water far behind him. A trudging, a heavy breathing in the distance. It wasn’t that Sokka was so awestruck by his dreamscape-made-reality that he didn’t perceive the danger. It was more like Sokka didn’t feel like paying the guy too much attention. Just didn’t seem worth it right now. If he really focused on his hands, he could see a sort of glow dance across his palms. Swift white gracing the waves, wrapping itself around him in an aura of calm. He knew there was a storm. He could feel it. His heartbeat was a thunder strike and the blood in his veins mirrored the rushing waves around them. 

La didn’t seem to mind much. Maybe this was normal for it, or maybe just expected. Maybe it was planned from the beginning. Eh, Sokka would leave it for the ancestors to settle on. 

The water was warmer now, clearer. He was reminded of his sister’s eyes. He thought about the beach just a short walk away from the Palace, just down the road from Zuko. The thin winding road, the clacks of stones under their feet, Zuko’s light laughter, Suki kicking up sand, Katara and Aang playing games with Toph. This was home. The water was home. Sokka thought it was kinda silly how terrified he was of this before. Only kinda, however, seeing as the situation he had found himself in was probably the most life threatening so far. He didn’t really have a plan. He just knew that the spirit's physical forms were rather weak. He knew he wanted to help. 

_ You’re stronger than you know. _ Yue hummed beside him. Right. Right, okay, he could do this. Sokka found himself reaching out to La, who was obviously hurt now that Sokka could actually see through all the chaos. He thought about what Aang had said about being a warrior. About strength. Change. Adapting so well and so quickly that no one can compare - no one keeps up with the rushing stream. Sokka thought maybe he had something to offer.

Sokka also thought that if by any chance he gets out of this alive, he might write a poem about it. 

The scales were smoother than Sokka had imagined they would be. He carefully wrapped his hands around the spirit and pulled La to his chest. There was a moment of peace. Sokka felt the rush course through his body and settle out into the sea. This was the peace he had dreamed about. 

The dagger of light that burrowed through Sokka’s back stung only after it had scorched his skin. Like an afterthought, an accident. He heard Katara scream again from somewhere. When Sokka tried to breathe, tried to move, to get away, all that happened was his blood began to pool out of his mouth and his shaky hands clutched ever tighter. He couldn’t get away. Not yet, anyway. Sokka was pretty sure that if he tried with all his might, he could make it a few feet into the depths before exhaustion took him. This was insane. He was stupid, they would definitely call him stupid for this. He had taken a blow for a spirit. La understood this, probably. Sokka hoped so. He’d do it again, a thousand times over. No matter how reckless it was. No matter how dumb. 

The moonlight seemed brighter. 

Sokka’s vision was going to fail him. He knew that. He knew that a weak body didn’t last long out in the ocean. 

He also knew that he was stronger than any one light. He was the tide, ever rising. La seemed to agree. The light danced around them. Sokka’s shoulder burned. He wanted now more than ever to  _ be  _ a weapon. To give in to his soldier instincts entirely. He wanted a fight. The sea was raving, there was a holier-than-thou lunatic on the horizon and his baby sister was crying. Sokka surrendered. His fear of control - either side - seemed to slip away with the current. He didn’t need to be afraid of what  _ might  _ happen now. It was already happening. He closed his eyes, forgot about the blood, and prayed. La seemed to listen.   
  


* * *

Katara wished she had enough energy to bloodbend right now. To force Alto out of there. Maybe even make him drag a dagger of light across his throat. She could see the streaks of red in the water. Her heart had been ripped out of her chest. Katara moved, as best she could, up on to her feet. She staggered and found it difficult to catch her breath. But breathing didn’t matter anymore. Not if Sokka didn’t get up. If Sokka sank to the bottom of the ocean, Katara would have no qualms drowning the world. It was all worthless without him. She raised her hand to do —  _ anything.  _

The ocean rose, higher and higher, towering everything in sight. Katara stumbled and fell backwards. She  _ certainly _ wasn’t doing  _ that _ . She had the mind to look around for Aang - had he heard her? She was shaking. Katara tried to focus on the scene before her. Alto, trembling beneath the tsunami, walking backwards. Running away. The wave, streaked with both blood and light, did not forgive this cowardice. It came down on him harshly. There, at the edge of the sand, was Sokka. Standing. Alive. His arms were up high, his hands wrapped kindly in the glow of the ocean. The waves were at  _ his  _ command. Sokka was the storm now. Katara witnessed Sokka grab a soaked Alto by his shirt. She watched Sokka say something to the shadowbender. Whatever the answer given was, Sokka was unsatisfied. He dropped Alto where they stood. A fish, a sea monster - the ocean itself - surged from the bellows of the sea. It was a rush, a geyser, a summoning. It swallowed Alto whole. There was no coming back for him. Katara was certain about that. Sokka was still oozing power, still somewhat unlike himself but so  _ sure _ . He turned to look at Katara. With a raise of his hand, the water pushed gently onto the shore. It creeped across the dark sand and met the mounds of unconscious royalty, waking them up tenderly. When the water pooled at Katara’s feet, she felt held. Healing light. Love. Hope. She could breathe again. She could stand. She could speak. 

“SOKKA!” She called with everything in her. 

Her brother grinned. It looked so goofy in comparison to how serious everything had just been moments before. It was him, he was  _ himself _ . She almost begged to have him say something funny, just to make sure. Katara watched her brother close his eyes and guide the water past them. It was strange watching ancient techniques she’s studied for years be applied by Sokka. His form and control — it was like he had been studying right there with her. Katara turned around to watch the waves slip through the cavern they had come in from. 

* * *

Aang had been rushing from one side of the North Pole to the other after sensing something deeply wrong. He was rather awestruck by the amount of water he saw flood through the roads of the Water Tribe. He recognized it instantly as the work of the ocean spirit. He listened to waves violently crash against buildings, heard it trickle past certain roads. 

“What’s happening? What  _ is  _ that?” Toph asked him. Aang shrugged, still dumbfounded by the intricate work. Now that they were closer, Aang could see that the waterbenders who had been fighting were being  _ healed.  _ The streams of light that were carried with the water sought them out like beacons. The harshness Aang was hearing elsewhere was the demise of the remaining shadowbenders. He described to Toph how the assailants were literally swept up in the current and carried away. 

“What’s doing it?” Toph asked. 

That was a good question. He was pretty sure it couldn’t be Katara, even though she was the best waterbender he knew. This was too intricate, too mystical. “Yue, maybe?” Toph tried. 

It clicked for Aang. “Maybe. I think I might have an idea.” He settled, shifting his weight so Appa knew to trek onward. He tightened his grip on the reins. Together, they followed to flow of the water, all the way back through a cavern. Aang let Toph hold onto his arm as they picked up speed. They met a clearing A bay filled with black sand. Aang’s heartbeat seemed to slow at the sight of Katara and the royal family safe by the dock. There had been so much damage done. The boats seemed to be missing. Fire met water. There was a huge mass of shadowbenders with frozen arms behind their back. And strangest of all was Sokka, standing out on the water in the moonlight. Aang’s immediate instinct was to see if his friend had been hurt. Sokka didn’t look hurt. He looked drenched. 

“Holy shit.” Toph mumbled, kicking one of the tied-up benders shins. “Did we win or what?” 

“I think so.” Aang answered. His feet led him to Katara’s side but his eyes never left Sokka. Sokka walked across the water with such ease Aang thought it must really be glass. It wasn’t until Sokka’s feet were buried in the rich sand that he spoke. 

“Did you see all that? I’m pretty sure I just met my destiny or something.” Sokka said, smiling. Aang should have anticipated Sokka promptly falling flat on his face, unconscious. But he certainly didn’t. Everyone ran to meet his body. Picked him up and carried him, held him, and prayed to whatever spirits were listening that Sokka knew how much this meant. 

Aang held on tight to Sokka’s hand when they carried him out. He wanted the guy to wake up so they could celebrate, figure this whole destiny thing out and then eat. Maybe not in that order, but hey. Aang was dying just to tell Sokka how proud he was.

They had stationed the injured waterbenders who were still healing in the nursing wing of the Royal Palace. Katara had stayed by Sokka’s side as much as possible. It was inevitable that she’d feel the obligation to help heal and reconstruct what they could right now. So Aang was on watch for the moment. He sat beside a sleeping Sokka, tossing Momo onto the nearest chair. He gave Sokka a once over. Aang noticed for the first time that Sokka’s hair wasn’t just dark because he had been wet. It was  _ black.  _ Black with small traces of grey and streaks of white. It all looked like waves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LETS GOOOOO!! he’s here!! ocean spirit sokka!!! the idea that’s been bouncing in my head for months now. final chapter has more zukka stuff and a sweet reunion! please look forward to it 🤍💙🤍


	8. the one you need

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko gets a letter. Sokka comes home. Things aren’t so different after all.

Zuko woke up in a cold sweat. That had been a _particularly_ bad nightmare. He had gone to bed stressed beyond reason, rambling a bit to himself. He even prayed, kind of. Aloud. (Which was strange but he felt compelled.) It was Sokka he was nervous about. In dreams, it was always Sokka who ended up hurt, or lost, or .. wrong somehow. They usually took place in a storm, for whatever reason. An inferno, a tsunami, tornadoes. And sometimes they made sense. Most of the time, they didn’t. Sometimes he was himself, now, and sometimes he was younger. Zuko hated the dreams where he knew he was 16. He could feel the difference — when he was young, he always felt like he was on fire. Everything was tinted with this _heat._ It made it harder to breathe. He would see Sokka; Sokka at 15, scrawny and loud. Zuko would always end up chasing him. And the younger Zuko was, the more dangerous the chase would be. Aang and Katara used to appear near constantly beside Sokka in dreams. Not this time. 

This _week_ seemed to be entirely focused on Sokka. Watching him sprint across scorching sand into the undying heat. Just to get away from Zuko. He knew that these were just visions of anxiety. They weren’t representative of reality, not if Zuko really thought about it. The last time Zuko saw his friends they had all waved back until they couldn’t anymore. He had been dog piled in affection just weeks ago. Sokka would sprint across the beach to _meet_ him in just a few days. (Or so he hoped.) 

There was a knock on the door that shocked Zuko so badly he jumped. Cursing himself for being such a baby, Zuko collected himself and headed to the door.   
“Your Highness,” the messenger greeted. “The Avatar has sent word from the Northern Water Tribe.” Zuko guessed that that was a more professional pitch than “Aang says hi” but it was still a little pompous.  
“Thank you.” It seemed that messengers wanted to spend as little time as possible in the Fire Lord’s presence. They probably never wanted to be the bearer of bad news. It’s just another thing they would all have to continue to unlearn from previous rulers, like his good-for-nothing father. Zuko went to rest on the edge of his bed. He thought about smoking before opening the scroll. He was nervous just holding the thing. Something told Zuko that Aang didn’t have good news and Zuko begged internally that his mind was just playing tricks on him. Zuko steeled himself and opened it sober. 

‘ _Sifu Zuko. Sorry we’ve been so out of touch! I had hoped to write much sooner. Good news! We’ve successfully apprehended the entire basic operations of the shadowbenders in the North.’_ Huh? ‘ _We won!’_ Oh, thank Agni. ‘ _By the time you finish reading this, they will be secure in prison and dealt with individually. Their leader, Alto, was reclaimed by the spirit world. He talked a lot about the void. I almost wonder if that’s where he is. Sokka promises he won’t be a problem anymore.’  
_ Wait, Sokka? Sokka took out Alto and sent him to the Spirit World? That strange man from his dreams. Spirits. Zuko remembers arguing with a faceless light and shivers.  
 _‘I’ll get to more on Sokka in a second. You should know that Katara, as the future Chief, has reinstated some laws in place to keep the waterbenders safe from future attacks.’_

Zuko fondly remembers the day Sokka nominated his sister to be Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe. She had another year to go before her age would qualify her, but there was no contesting Katara. Sokka has explained that Katara embodied the true spirit of the Water Tribe and the South had raised up one incredible bender. He had told Zuko privately that he never wanted to be chief. Sokka just wanted to live a little bit more free everyday. Zuko couldn’t help but feel a bit proud to know either of them at all.   
‘ _They were hit before we got here, but the North will recover quickly. They’ve already rebuilt most of the houses and a chunk of the Royal Palace. We’ve been here a while now to keep an eye on things. There’s something else you should know.’_

Zuko was regretting not smoking before this. 

‘ _Sokka has been on bed rest the entire time. After taking on Alto and rounding up the other benders, he collapsed and hasn’t been upright since.’  
_ Oh. Sokka did...all of it? How? _Why?_ What were they thinking? They had an entire meeting about how dangerous and unpredictable these people were and it had been up to _Sokka?  
_ ‘ _I know he merged with the Ocean Spirit, La, in order to pull that off. It was amazing. I’m not sure how touched Sokka is, but he does look different. We’ll get him home as soon as possible. When he’s awake, he asks about you. We all love you! We’ll see each other again soon. Really soon!’_

Zuko let the scroll rest by his side. It was going to take him a week to process all of that. He would start by committing to memory the words “when he’s awake, he asks about you”. Then he would move on to the idea of the Palace being Sokka’s _home._

* * *

Sokka had been feeling a bit better since the whole glowy-waterbender-ninja-spirit thing. He wasn’t having nightmares anymore. His dreams were back to being nonsensical. Regular. 

Katara and him playing together in the middle of the freezing ocean. A meteor shower. Attending that Fire Nation school with Aang. Wolves. Toph having flowers grow around her. A math test. 

Sokka was rather thankful for ‘regular’. He was getting used to seeing himself in the mirror again, now that he could walk up to it on his own. It turns out that normal people don’t usually mindmeld with ancient spirits. Doing so proved taxing on Sokka’s body. He stood in front of the mirror. Ran his hands through his hair. Katara had said it first; Sokka really did look like Hakoda with all this grey in his hair. The white streaks reminded him of Yue’s bright strands. Now there were streams of moonlight among dark water. Sokka studied himself a while longer. His eyes seemed bluer. There were still bags under them, though. He should shave before they leave. He hoped that Zuko wouldn’t think he looked like a weird old man or something. Sokka already knew that Suki would tease him for a while about it. He had come to terms with it ahead of time. (He wouldn’t have it any other way.)  
Sokka had finished packing hours ago. He couldn’t wait to be back at the Palace, sitting there beside Zuko and laying out everything that happened to them. To him. Sokka was different, if only a little. The healers call him light-touched. Reborn of the ocean. Spirit warrior. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He had been able to waterbend. Toph had yelled about it for hours when they told her. “He’s been hiding it?! Hey, Snoozles, _I_ got questions and _you_ got techniques to learn!” Sokka hadn’t tried to do anything since collapsing face first into the sand that time. There wasn’t any actual pressure to do so, either. Aang had mentioned that they really shouldn’t push their luck as far as Sokka’s physical health goes. They could try something later. Sokka was so thankful for that little monk. 

“Sokka, are you ready?” Katara asked from the other side of the door.   
“Sure thing.” Sokka responded. He thought, for a fleeting moment, that someone was standing behind him in his mirror. When he turned, however, he was alone. Sokka shrugged it off. He figured being a new spirit warrior or whatever meant he wasn’t done seeing weird shit. He shouldered his bag and grabbed a few of his keepsakes. He opened the door and grinned. “Take me home.”   
  


The journey was smoother coming back to the Fire Nation. Sokka was the first drop off, then Aang had to hightail it to get the girls back to the Earth Kingdom in time for an assembly they were called for. Sliding off of Appa. Throwing him a melon for his troubles. Watching Aang sprint past him into the Palace and listening to Katara laugh. Sokka walked through the hallways like it was destiny. He was so familiar with this scene that he felt like he must have done it all before. 

Sokka saw Suki talking to Ty Lee in the corridor outside the war room. Ty Lee noticed him first, stopping mid sentence to gasp and pitch her voice up high to say, “You look so handsome!” Sokka could feel the blood rush to his face. Ty Lee still sort of caught him off guard with how intensely kind she was. Suki turned and saw him. Her lips parted in a “oh” before she ran over to him for her hug. 

“Hey, big guy.” She mumbled into his shoulder. “What happened to you?”   
“You were right about all the weird Spirit World stuff.” Sokka offered. He pressed his lips to the top of her head and she squeezed and squeezed. He pulled away just enough to be able to look at her. To have her run her fingers through his hair for a moment. “I even took all your advice. Things got a little rocky. But we’re all here and the bad guys lost, so!”  
Suki shook him by his shoulders. She knew this was vague bullshit she’d have to mull over before Sokka really spilled the beans. (She wouldn’t have it any other way.) 

“I love what you’ve done with your hair!” Ty Lee half-yelled, getting in on the hug.   
“Yeah? I thought it read ‘old timer’ but I’m now coming around to more ‘silver fox’.” Sokka said.  
“You’re still way too young to be that.” Suki amended. “You just got back? Where is everyone? Have you seen Zuko?”   
“Not yet, I was headed that way.”  
“He’s been so stressed out while you were away.” 

Sokka could pretend that the ‘you’ in question meant the whole team. But he knew that wasn’t true. At some point, when the water took him, Sokka had come to understand that he had been holding back so much more than he realized. It was the faintest thing suddenly becoming the most booming noise. Remembering that Zuko was only a few moments away instead of lands, stretching between them like time? The distance was so great, his heart was in awe of the resilience of itself — how did it not break whenever he left Zuko’s side? Sokka resolved himself. They had some figuring out to do. He took Suki’s hand in his and squeezed. “I’ll go see him. Poor guy’s probably pacing around in circles in that big stupid room right now.” 

Zuko actually had been pacing when Sokka flung open the double doors. He had frozen in place, which didn’t surprise Sokka. What surprised Sokka was getting tackled. Zuko had clung to Sokka like his life depended on it. A solid _thud_ when their bodies met, Zuko’s hands clasping Sokka’s pale blue silk shirt. Sokka thought about being an anchor, swaying down lower and lower to solid ground. He let himself pet at Zuko’s hair, rub his shoulders. Then Sokka had said something stupid, something quick like “Missed me?” And Zuko laughed. Which made Sokka beam; Zuko’s laugh was the apex of joy, it was only ever earned. Sokka wasn’t sure how funny it actually was but a part of him was pretty sure they were only like this because of the emotions beating around inside their chests. At least, that was definitely happening to Sokka. Zuko leaned all his weight onto Sokka and of course, they had collapsed together. Neither seemed to mind. They had become too involved in talking over each other. Zuko had stumbled out something about his dreams, about seeing Sokka hurt. Sokka tried to mention La and Yue but couldn’t get past the relief in Zuko’s eyes.

He found himself holding onto his best friend by the sides of his face, mushing his cheeks whenever Zuko started to get sappy. Like when he asked, “Aang said you were merged, you’re _touched._ Are you okay? I have no idea what I’d..” He didn’t finish, but sitting there across from Sokka, their arms tangled up in worry and relief, he didn’t have to. Sokka could hear it. _I have no idea what I’d do without you here._ As if he had heard it in a dream. Maybe he had.  
“I’m okay, I’m good. I was a _Waterbender,_ if only for a second.”  
Zuko’s eyes were blown wide. “You’re joking.” 

“Better than Katara, if I do say so myself.” Sokka grinned. “Don’t tell her I said that. She’ll kick my ass.” 

Zuko kissed him, quickly, like an impulse. Like a firework. Like a lightning strike. Like a wave crashing onto shore. Sokka smiled against Zuko’s lips. Then, just like that, they were laughing all over again.

* * *

That night, everyone stayed out on the beach. Sokka’s idea, Toph’s annoyance and the Kyoshi Warrior’s playground. Something in the back of Sokka’s mind compelled him to wade into the water. The moon above was bright, illuminating. Zuko encouraged the possibility, held his hand nervously every so often like they were 17 years old. Sokka didn’t mind. In fact, it made him feel _alive_. Maybe he’d ham it up later, kiss Zuko’s hand, declare himself the new royal consort. He’d figure it out later, or leave it for fate to decide. The ancestors would have a field day. 

When everyone else had drifted off to sleep, Sokka and Zuko had stayed wide awake. When the moon was at its highest, he ventured into the water. This was the second homecoming. There was no fear, no panic, no uncertainty. Sokka went on until his waist wasn’t visible. Kicking around in moonlight. Zuko stayed patiently on the shore, all black and blue and bright gold. 

“Are we waiting for, uh, something?” Zuko called. 

“Yeah!” Sokka said, hands around his mouth for max volume. “Just gimme a second.” 

“You did it.” Yue said, just behind him. This made him shiver, but not jump. It did startle Zuko, apparently, if all of the shuffling from behind him meant anything. Sokka could always feel Yue - even more clearly since the gang had fled the North Pole. Every other night, he could hear her humming. He wondered if she could hear his heartbeat from here. “I’m so proud of you, Sokka.” She was so warm, so full of life. 

“Hey, I owe it to you!” Sokka replied. He let his fingertips ghost the surface of the water. Every instance of his strength, his courage, is inspired by the women in his life. Owing Yue for her bravery and wisdom was nothing new. She knew that. “I’m kinda curious, you know. Like, what happens now?” Sokka asked out into the aether. 

Yue appeared in front of him as if she had always been there. “I can show you.” She offered, her smile small. She raised her right hand and the tide obeyed. It rose to meet her. Sokka mimicked the movement. His hands began to shake when the water listened to him, too. “We can see what happens, together.” Zuko gasped from the beach. Sokka laughed, light pouring out of his hands as he raised his arms over his head. The ocean burst at his command. The future was full of light and love and Sokka finally understood what he had been running towards all this time. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end :^)) !! sorry fellas this one took a while for me to wrap up, but im happy with it!! comments are appreciated and i plan to keep up w this universe in the future!! much much love 🤍🤍


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